Crawley Town 1 - 0 Hartlepool United FC: James Collins header enough for Crawley

Posted Sunday, January 15, 2017 by PA

James Collins scored his 12th league goal of the season as Crawley clinched their fourth successive home win with a 1-0 victory over struggling Hartlepool.

Collins made amends after missing two good chances to leave Pools with only one win from their last eight Sky Bet League Two matches.

Pools had an early let-off in front of a crowd of 4,266 - Crawley's best of the season - when Collins set up Billy Clifford but he failed to test goalkeeper Adam Bartlett from the edge of the area.

Bartlett came to his side's rescue when he blocked a goal-bound shot from Dean Cox after Josh Laurent had given the ball away.

Crawley appealed in vain for offside when Sean Kavanagh had a shot turned around the post by goalkeeper Glenn Morris.

Pools improved as the half wore on but Crawley created more chances and midfielder Josh Payne shot wide 10 minutes before the break.

Collins should have hit the target after a slip by Scott Harrison 11 minutes after the break but shot wide and he was wasteful again when he headed over from point-blank range from a cross by Enzio Boldewijn.

But former Shrewsbury striker Collins rose highest to break the deadlock after 62 minutes, heading in a Cox cross.

Pools seldom threatened an equaliser and visiting keeper Bartlett denied Crawley a second when saving from substitute Bobson Bawling late on.